Queen Elizabeth National Park has many accommodation options nearby and within the park that range from luxury, mid-range to budget facilities. The park has lodges, hotels and campsites that give visitors relaxation after a long day of participating in different activities in the park. These cater for solo, group and family tourists. The average costs for accommodation at Queen Elizabeth National Park are as below;

Luxury lodges cost 190 USD and above

Mid-range lodges cost from 75 USD to 185 USD

Budget lodges cost from 35 USD to 70 USD

Queen Elizabeth bush lodge

Queen Elizabeth bush lodge offers budget friendly accommodation bandas with views of the seasonal Kamera river. The lodge has 10 non-self-contained tents and self-contained tents built in an African way. Facilities at the lodge like bathrooms are shared but night movements are prohibited because wild animals loiter around.

Ishasha wilderness camp

This is an upscale camp located in the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park next to river Ntungwe. It is surrounded by giant trees that sometimes act as shelter for lions and monkey species like olive baboons, black and white colobus and vervet monkeys.

Ishasha ntungwe river camp

Ishasha ntungwe river camp is a mid-range lodge lying in the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. This lodge offers self-contained rooms with beautiful views of Ntungwe river. The lodge is also close to Ishasha sector which is famous for tree climbing lions, elephants, hyenas, leopards, water bucks and buffaloes. In addition, several bird species like the grey capped warbler, sun birds and fish eagles also frequent the lodge’s compound.

Mweya safari lodge

Mweya safari lodge is a luxurious 5-star accommodation that is located near the main administrative center of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Visitors can choose to book a presidential suite, double or single rooms as they wish. This park gives visitors stunning views of Kazinga channel that has crocodiles and hippos. you can also watch herds of buffalo and elephants quenching their thirst while you are in your comfort zone at the lodge. Mweya safari lodge has free WIFI, gardens, a fully stocked bar plus a restaurant serving both local and international cuisines.

King fisher lodge

This is a mid-range lodge located 40 minutes away from Queen Elizabeth National Park headquarters. This gives visitors a chance to go for game drives in the park either during early mornings or late evenings. It has spacious self- contained rooms that are ecofriendly.

Katara lodge

Katara lodge is an upmarket eco-friendly lodge located on the Kichwamba escarpment. This lodge is 16km away from Katunguru gate of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Katara lodge offers 8 grass thatched cottages with a swimming pool that can cater for families, big groups and solo visitors.

Activities to participate in while staying at this lodge include nature walks, game drives, visit to Kazinga channel, chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge and bird watching.

Jacana safari geo lodge

This is an up-market accommodation in Queen Elizabeth National Park with great views of Maramagambo forest. Jacana safari geo lodge has private suits, a well-stocked bar and a restaurant serving both local and international dishes. The surrounding trees are an attraction to a variety of bird species and monkeys which give you great views of nature before the actual tours.

Hotel Margheritah

This is a mid-range hotel located in western Uganda and is a few kilometers from kasese town. Visitors have great views of Rwenzori mountains since the lodge is near kilembe mines and they can always visit Kilembe mines golf club.

Bush lodge

This is a budget friendly accommodation located near Queen Elizabeth National Park. It has both self -contained and 10 non-self-contained tents built in an African way with grass thatched rooftops. Each room offers better views of Kamera river which is relaxing for the visitors.

The check in time for this hotel is 1:00 pm East African time and the checkout time is 11:00 East African time and an identification card is required.

Virina gardens

These budget friendly gardens are located in Kasese district along Rwenzori Road offering a setup of thatched bands with green grass for visitors to relax. They offer twinned rooms with shared bathrooms.

White house hotel

This is a clean budget accommodation near Queen Elizabeth National Park along Bwambale road. It has around 17 en-suite guest rooms with amenities like a satellite tv, dressing table, a fan and mosquito net. It also has a decent bar and restaurant with friendly staff.

Simba safari camp

This is a budget accommodation located on the boarder of Queen Elizabeth National Park. This camp has 70 beds with twin rooms, family cottages and dormitories. Activities offered include boat safaris on kazinga channel, forest walks in maramagambo forest, exploring crater lakes, game drives in kasenyi plains and many others.

Activities to participate in while at Queen Elizabeth National Park

Birding

Queen Elizabeth National Park has more than 605 bird species at the shore of Kazinga channel some of which fly as far as Europe. Visitors enjoy magnificent views of species like red-capped larks, temminck’s courser, collared pratincole, Gabon and slender tailed among others.

Game drives

Driving through different track line gives you views of crater lakes like the blue lake that is famous for copper, lake katwe popular for salt mining and lake Nyamunuka with a pungent ugly smell. Queen Elizabeth National Park also has acacia woodland, forest grassland and lake shore vegetation supporting wild animals like cape buffaloes, elephants, waterbucks, warthogs, lions, leopards and several bird species.

Chimpanzee trekking

Chimpanzee trekking is mainly done from Kyambura gorge which comes from Kyambura river that flows towards Kazinga channel. You ae advised to book your chimpanzee trekking permit in advance before your trek date.

Nature walks

Walks in Maramagambo forest are enjoyable since tourists get to visit the bat cave that shelters a very big python. This tropical forest is also home to black and white colobus, grey cheeked monkeys, red tailed monkeys and blue monkeys which add adventure to your journey.

Visit to Katwe salt explosive crater

This crater is located on the Northern Mweya peninsular. It is an ancient salt mining industry in Uganda that offers great views of local people extracting salt with pans.

Trip on Kazinga channel

This is a launch trip in Queen Elizabeth National Park that starts from Mweya peninsular and it takes around 3 hours. On this trip, visitors get to see hippos and crocodiles taking births and drinking water. Bird species and other animals encountered include kingfishers, African skimmers, Egyptian geese, lesser masked canary, cape buffaloes, elephants, leopards and lions.

Memorial visit

The park has a Queen’s pavilion where Queen Elizabeth II conducted a meeting with local leaders of Uganda. This pavilion is best for visitors that like taking pictures in the wild.

How to access Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park can be reached by either road or air transport.

By road, visitors can choose to drive from Kampala to Mbarara to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This is around 420km.

Alternatively, you can drive from Kampala to Fortportal to Queen Elizabeth National Park which is around 410 km.

Buhoma to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This route is best for visitors that have gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It takes around 160 km from Buhoma sector and 64 km from Ishasha sector.

By air, there are daily domestic flights from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi air strip to Kasese airstrip. Visitors need to book transfer vehicles to their lodges earlier to avoid late driver arrivals.